The Twin Dilemma
by 16DarkMidnight80
Summary: The Elites come to visit but there's a problem. The Jettwins aren't talking to each other. The rest of the team tries to get them back together but fail. Now, it's up to one mini-bot to tell them that the pain of losing a twin is not worth it. - This is sparklespepper's idea and description that I was able to adopt. One-shot, no slash, just some brother love


The Twin Dilemma

For once, everything was quiet around the Autobot's base located on Earth. No bad humans committing crimes, no Decepticons wreaking havoc on the city of Detroit. Optimus Prime, leader of the spacebridge repair crew, sat by the monitors, but his blue optics wandered from the bright screens to his team.

Ratchet was, by far, the oldest of all of them. But that age didn't mean he was without wisdom, and he always shared it, be it in the form of a talk or a waving wrench. The red and white ambulance cared for the team, even if he tried not to show it.

Bulkhead was the creation of an energon farmer. He grew up learning values that he carried to Earth. He was dark green mostly, with a little black and grey, and also was the largest of all five mechs. He could be a little slow in the processor at times, but was the definition of a gentle giant.

Prowl was the mysterious ninja of the group. The black and gold mech was tall and slim, but only reached about Optimus' shoulder. He was quick and agile, and a fantastic fighter. Cold and little emotion was what one would use to describe him, but he felt everything the team did, although he didn't show it.

Bumblebee was the youngest and the smallest, Bulkhead being the second youngest. The two had been kicked out of Boot Camp and so ended up on the repair crew. This minibot was mostly yellow, with two black stripes and his main weapons were stingers. The thing that had many a time furrowed Optimus' brow ridge was the fact that the talkative bot was the one anyone knew the least about.

The youngling said a lot, talked fast, and played a lot of video games. However, even though he talked the most, he also said the least. Even Prowl had shared how he had ended up with the group, but Bumblebee never did, and Bulkhead, his closest friend, knew nothing of his past. One would think that Prowl, being a ninja and all, would be the most secretive, but that honor went to Bumblebee.

Beeping from the monitors caught the red and blue mech's attention. The other four mechs looked over at their leader, wondering was disturbing their peaceful day.

"It appears Sentinel is going to be landing soon. Let's go meet our guests," Optimus said, standing, and the others followed suit. "Autobots, transform and roll out." It wasn't too long until a semi, ambulance, SWAT truck, motorcycle, and beetle were seen leaving their base to go to the familiar landing spot of the _Steel Haven_.

The crew got there in time to see the ship land, and the first to exit was, of course, Sentinel Prime, in all of his big-chinned glory. Next was the fully trained ninja, Jazz. Finally, Jetfire and Jetstorm got off, but their arms were crossed and they refused to look at each other.

"Welcome, Sentinel, Jazz, twins," greeted Optimus. The Elite Guard Prime glared, the twins did nothing but continue to pout, and Jazz gave them a small tense, stressed smile.

Back at the plant, without Sentinel because he refused to recharge in their 'filth,' the Jettwins sat on opposite ends of the stone couch, still declining to look at each other.

"Jazz, what is wrong with the twins?" Optimus asked as he glanced over at the normally happy bots. The white ninja just sighed as he pulled the others off to the side to talk.

"Ah don't exactly know what all went down, but apparently they got inta a big fight, 'nd now won't talk to the other," Jazz explained, rubbing his helm in suffering. "Ah tried ta talk ta them, but Ah can't get through ta 'em."

While the others began to talk amongst themselves, they never saw Bumblebee slip away from them. As he walked to his berth room, the pained expression of his faceplates grew more and more pronounced. Once safely inside his soundproofed room, with the door carefully locked, Bumblebee probed a bond that had been cruelly cut so long ago.

"_Hey, brother. Long time, no hear, huh?"_ joked a voice that was familiar to the yellow youngling, and a tiny smile fell onto his grieving faceplates.

"Hi, brother. I know, it's been a while," he said to the air, knowing he was just talking to a voice in his processor. Bumblebee only did this when he had no other options. The last time was just after Bulkhead knocked that building down on Sentinel during Boot Camp, just before taking the blame.

"_What can I do for you, huh? What's on your processor? Tell me. Tell me _everything_!"_ the mech's voice happily exclaimed and Bumblebee chuckled softly.

"That would take too long, Hyperjump, sorry," Bumblebee said apologetically. "Do you think you could help me with something?"

"_That depends, Bee. What do you need help on? Save the world? Attract a mech or femme?"_ The mech's playful gasp could then be heard. _"Don't tell you need help in _those_ matters! Please, please don't! That's just wrong!"_

"Jump, if you were here right now, I would be chasing you down just for saying that! That's nasty!" the youngling cried, utterly horrified. He could hear his brother laughing, and could imagine him on the floor, clutching his midsection, coolant tears streaming down his grey face plates.

"_Sorry, sorry. I couldn't resist, though. You were always so easy to tease."_

"I just wish it was only you doing the teasing, though," he muttered sadly. Now, all the teasing he received was supposed to be playful, a common thing in a tight-knit group, but it hurt, and cut deep a lot of the time.

"_Aw, come now, Bee, don't be like that! Just ignore those fraggers, or tell them to frag off! That'll do the trick!"_

"If only it were that simple. Listen, Jump, there's this set of twins, and they just got into a big fight, and have refused to even acknowledge one another. I can tell from their optics that they shut off their bonds. What do I do?" Silence followed, and he could practically see the baby blue optics, same shade as his, looking around curiously, as if somewhere there would be the answer.

"_Bumblebee…"_ Hyperjump never said his full name unless he was being absolutely serious. _"You have to tell them…"_

"I can't, though, that's the _problem_, Hyperjump!" hissed Bumblebee, but there was no heat behind his words. "It's too…too painful…"

"_I know, Bumblebee, I know it is. But they have to learn. Please, don't let them end up like us. One shouldn't suffer because they were both too stubborn. Bee, don't let _us_ happen again."_ The yellow mech sighed, helm resting in his servos. Hyperjump was right…he was _always_ right when it came to matters like this.

"Okay, okay. I'll…tell them. I love you, my brother, Hyperjump, my twin," Bumblebee stated clearly, as if he was saying it to a bot in front of him.

"_And I love you, my brother, Bumblebee, my twin,"_ answered the voice, completing what they called their 'secret servo-shake.' With a long-suffering sigh, Bumblebee got up from his berth and unlocked his door, heading down to the commons. He passed by the group of older mechs, who stared at him with worry and surprise. The scout didn't know that he had been crying as he talked to his twin, and a few coolant tears still slipped out from his baby blue optics.

Both Jettwins looked to Bumblebee as he sat on the couch with a slight 'clink.' Their optics widened when they saw the tear tracks and the tears still flowing.

"Yellow Bumble, is you to being all right?" asked a concerned Jetfire.

"Yellow Bumble, what is to being the matter?" questioned Jetstorm.

"Do me a favor, guys, and stop this silly fighting," Bumblebee said lowly, not looking at either twin. "Just…stop, okay?" That's when the twins began to fight again, saying that the other started it, that it was all the other's fault. But in his current state, the scout didn't take more than an Earth minute of it until he had to shut them up effectively.

"Stop!" he ordered loudly, and the twins shut their mouth plates, optics wide with surprise and slight fear. The yellow mech had never said anything that harshly to them. He got up from the couch and turned to angrily glare at them. "Look, look at you!" Bumblebee gestured to both twins. "Shutting off your bonds like that! Do you have any idea what you are putting yourselves through! Do you!"

Jetfire and Jetstorm glanced sheepishly at one another, and finally saw their pain being reflected in their twin's optics. Hesitantly, they looked to Bumblebee in question.

"Guys," he started, voice low with grief and sadness. The clear sorrow made the others listen intently, too. "Think about what would happen to you if the other offlined. What would you do?" The rhetorical inquiry hung in the silence heavily.

"You would end up being in pain for the rest of your lifecycles. You would try to move on, to find some sort of happiness, but no matter what, it wouldn't come to you. You could try your hardest to smile and laugh and joke, and you would convince all the other bots around you, but not yourself. Because you know there is no joy, no happiness, but you keep trudging on. The other wouldn't want you to commit suicide, or go on dangerous missions or do dangerous jobs because there was that great chance of you offlining. But you would slowly wither away, no matter how hard you tried to stay strong.

"It hurts, a _lot_, when that familiar spark isn't there anymore, constantly by your side. They were always a part of you, and now they're gone. You can probe that bond for as long as you like, and you might get lucky, being able to hear his voice once in a while, but it hurts just as much today as it did that day he died." Now, everyone was certain that Bumblebee wasn't just talking to the twins, admitting something that no one else knew. He was telling his story, his pain.

"He was always right beside you, telling you to hurry up or slow down, to take risks or stay safe. He snuggled with you in the dead of night when an electrical storm raged outside. He was your security blanket, your friend, your brother, your…your _twin_." Bumblebee's voice cracked, and tears raged down his grey faceplates like water over a waterfall.

"You were the quiet one, and he was the loud one. You stuck by each other through everything, when your sire offlined, then your carrier, and you were both placed in an adoption home. You both got made fun of, but you had each other. No one could touch you if you were together. Together, you were invincible. Nothing could touch you.

"But then…then came that fateful day. You had a really big fight, the biggest one ever, and said stuff you both would regret. You ran away from one another, and now that you were apart, you were no longer invincible. You were more vulnerable than ever.

"Suddenly, you feel your twin, your other half, in great pain. You rush out, forgetting your sulking and your fight, the only thing in you processor and spark telling you to hurry up. And when you get there…when you get there…there he is, lying in a pool of his own energon, mortally injured. You can feel him fading, and it pains your spark to no end.

"As you hold him for the last time, you both say you're sorry, and that you love each other very much. You see his optics offline, see his frame go grey, see his last ventilation, but the worst feeling is the sudden hole in your spark, telling you he's gone. And you cry your optics out, wailing and refusing to let go of the cooling frame even when the caregivers finally arrive.

"You go and see his frame be recycled, and hope he found your creators, and hope he likes where he is now. But you're alone. For once, you have no direction. It's like all of your senses have been taken away from you, and you can't even tell up from down anymore. Your better half is gone, and without you realizing it, his attitude becomes your own. His feelings and thoughts are transferred somehow and become your own, but you also know they aren't yours. No, they're his, but you'll hold onto anything you can that reminds you of him. Because that's what twins do, even as they slowly wither away, unable to find any happiness. I pray that you don't have to feel that indescribable agony that rips through you every nanosecond of every day."

Bumblebee then ran out of the base, tears still leaking, and the sounds of a transformation could be heard, along with tires squealing on pavement. The others could only stare in shock as they heard the youngling's engine disappear within the city's noises.

"I to being having no idea that…" Jetstorm started.

"Yellow Bumble to be feeling like that," finished his twin. Together, they hung their helms in shame. It wasn't long until their own coolant tears began to leak from their bright blue optics, and eventually they looked at each other, opening up their bonds. Frustration, anger, and irritation were dwarfed by the sheer miserableness that the Jettwins were feeling. Their cries quickly escalated as they jumped to one another and began to cling, as if holding on for dear life. They loved each other, they were twins, blocking bonds was no way to treat your other half…your better half.

"Uh…shouldn't we go after Bumblebee?" Bulkhead asked, scratching the back of his helm thoughtfully. He never knew that his best buddy had a sibling, let alone a _twin_, and had no idea that he had to watch him offline. Now, he felt like a bad friend for never prying into the scout's life.

"I will go," Prowl offered, but it was more like he was just telling the others to be courteous. Optimus nodded and the ninja took off, the black tire marks his first clue as to where the youngling went.

"Wow," muttered Jazz, and everyone agreed.

It took Prowl almost two hours to find where Bumblebee had gone to, but the youngling led him to a spot where he thought that he would go again. It was the campsite that they used last winter during the Space Barnacle incident. And there sat the little yellow mech, arms wrapped around his legs, chin on his knee joints, staring into the darkening woods with no care, not really seeing anything.

"Bee…" the older mech said just loud enough for his voice to carry across the small clearing. He caught the small sniffle from the younger bot.

"Go away, Prowl," he demanded, but there was no conviction in his voice. Hesitantly, Prowl walked up to him and sat down next to him, turning his gaze into the same direction as Bumblebee.

"Bee, why didn't you tell us?" Prowl asked lowly, but it was more of a concerned question than filled with anger. In response, Bumblebee just shook his helm, curling up even tighter. "I'm here, Bee, and if you tell me what is wrong, maybe I can help you."

"No one can help me," Bumblebee laughed humorlessly. "I'm a broken bot who killed his own twin, and now must live with it. I've been doing fine for stellar cycles; I don't need help."

"Did you ever physically hurt your twin on that orbital cycle?" he questioned, and Bumblebee shook his helm. "Did you point out to any bullies where he was?" Another shake of a horned helm. "Then, you didn't kill your twin."

"I shut off my bond to him!" screamed Bumblebee as he stood and whirled around to face his elder. "That's as good as killing him!"

"That is where you are wrong, Bee," Prowl continued calmly, and the defensive posture of the youngling slowly faded. Instead, now his shoulder struts were sagged, as if someone had put the weight of Cybertron on each side. Standing, Prowl did something he never thought he would do. He hugged the beetle.

Bumblebee stiffened in his gold and black arms, but it soon faded away, and he broke down, sobbing into Prowl's chassis as the ninja rubbed soothing circles on the base of his helm and stroked his back. The young mech clung to the older as if he was going to disappear into thin air.

"It's okay, Bee, I'm here," Prowl repeated softly. It felt like he was comforting a brother, and that's when something clicked in his processor.

To him, Bumblebee was his little brother. He was obnoxious, loud, and a general nuisance. But when he was gone on patrol, or, rare as it was, when he fell ill, and the base was cloaked in silence, everything seemed out of whack. He couldn't meditate in complete silence anymore, because knowing that the youngling was okay and annoying everyone in the base, he was happy.

What would happen when they finally went back to Cybertron for good? Where would Bumblebee go? He was still a kid, barely a legal adult yet, and he had no one. Bulkhead could go back to his energon farm and work, or get a job repairing spacebridges, something only he seemed to enjoy. Ratchet often mentioned opening up his own clinic. Optimus was going to try and get back into the Elite Guard. He himself had been asked by Jazz to finish up his training with the white ninja and open up the old dojo together as partners now that Yoketron was gone.

But Bumblebee…he said that his creators were gone. His twin was gone. And now, he had no one. What would an older brother do to make sure his little brother was going to be fine?

The pair didn't head back to the base until after dark, when Bumblebee had finally stopped crying. It was obvious that even though the _Steel Haven_ was still here, Jazz and the Jettwins were already on board, recharging. And the base was quiet, everyone in recharge. Prowl helped the exhausted mech to his room and carefully laid him on his berth before pulling the few sheets over his slightly cooler frame.

"Recharge well, Bumblebee," Prowl whispered to the bot that was quickly falling into recharge. Just as he opened the door, he heard a small voice, still laden with grief and now tiredness, but there was something concrete that caught the ninja's attention.

"Love you brother, Hyperjump, my twin. Love you brother, Prowl, my big brother," whispered Bumblebee and his systems then evened out, indicating that he was, indeed, in recharge. With a small smile, Prowl left the room, and headed down to his own.

It would take a while until Bumblebee healed, maybe not completely, but enough where he knew he wasn't alone in the world anymore. He had an older brother who would watch out for him and take care of him, no matter how much he protested. Hyperjump's voice was silenced for good, but from the Well of AllSparks, he watched with a big smile alongside their creators. He was happy for his twin, because he finally moved on. They would never forget each other, but now, just maybe, Bumblebee could start to heal and start living life again.

Don't own anything; nothing new there. Big thanks to sparklespepper for letting me adopt the title and idea of the story.


End file.
